57 comments:

Bring back the days of the good old metal slide which reached temperatures of a gazillion in the summertime and we'd burn our butts of as we slid down it, or the rickety merry-go-round with rusty metal, and splintery wood, yet we'd jump on it and spin ourselves like crazy till someone puked or fell off, whatever came first. Ah, those were the days!

I have just read an article about the way in which sports activities might make people more prone to arthritis. The article then went on to say, despite this the advantage of sport outweighs the possible risks of developing arthritis.

The same could be said for children's play. But even so these warnings are off putting.

What adult play equipment would have as warnings:CAUTION!!Other adults have broken their osteoporotic bones by falling off this equipment.Other adults have slipped and fallen off the stairs to the slide because their bifocals were not properly adjusted.Other adults have torn their rotator cuffs on the monkey bars.Other adults have gotten wedged in the slide on the way down because of those extra 20 pounds.Other adults have had heart attacks and/or strokes from swinging too high and too long.USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

What I find sad is WHY all those warning signs are there. Not only is it sad that someone was injuried and or killed, but that the adults in these situations found the need to blame someone for what is truely their own fault for have lacked common sense.

BB Mom says she is older than dirt but she remembers when children went to the park to play...and no one needed to read all the warnings and signs...because they used their 'noodle' to think, their parents paid attention to the children (not like today when they are texting or talking on the phone)so the children did not get hurt!!! Now they have to use all the signs to CTB!!!!Holey Moley Madi and Mom

Even though your post is tongue-in-cheek, it's a sad commentary of what our society has become. The world was so much less safe and we had so much more freedom when we were kids and we were just fine. Was it really that bad?

Do Not Drink and Climb. You must be This Small to ride this swing.Teeter Totters require two similarly weighted participants.Warning: Excessively Fast Twirling Found to Cause Nausea in 9 out of 10 Adults.

There is only one reason those warnings are there...to protect the manufacturer in the event of a lawsuit. Period.We live in an age where you can spill hot coffee on yourself, and then sue because the coffee was hot.

Now, on a LIGHTER note, Betty, those pics are great! I often see those things, and never thought of taking a photo. As usual, you inspire me.

What, no have a nice day sign? Crazy one needs this to cover themself.Where are the adult swings?And for those who don't read well, I hope they just have fun.Made me think of one park I was in where someone carefully changed all the no signs to Know.

Ha! Enough already. Sadly, I agree with Joe Cap; those disclaimers serve no other purpose than to cover the manufacturer's rear against a lawsuit. Warning to children: the outdoors are Dangerous. Play inside, with Wii. Have virtual experiences rather than real ones...Ick.Trees carry no disclaimers, and are equally fun to climb ;)

Very funny, Betty! Life is definitely ironic. I would like to meet the guy who wrote the cautions. Would he be fun at a party? Caution-- that appetizer contains cholesterol. People have died from eating too many.

Makes you want to tell your kids to sit in front of a computer or tv all day. It's really sad that every business or in this case a city entity is so frightened over being sued that they have to cover their butts like this.

This reminds me of the whole hoopla I heard on a recent NPR story - where people were asking the hot dog industry to come up with another way to make hot dogs (because kids were choking on them.) I loved when the Hot Dog representative said, "Well, I don't know about you - but when my kids were little, I just CUT THE HOT DOG UP. It seemed to work just fine."